The Azorean Diaspora in Sister-City Partnerships (1)

Municipal sister-city agreements, when conceived with care and pursued with genuine purpose, can become quiet but powerful instruments of diplomacy. They allow communities—sometimes small, sometimes remote—to step beyond the limits of geography and speak to one another across oceans. In doing so, they become a form of civic bridge-building, a way for local governments to affirm their presence in the world while cultivating bonds that are at once cultural, economic, and deeply human.

While national and regional authorities often shape the broad outlines of international relations, local governments have long played their own role in bringing distant geographies closer together. Through the steady work of municipal cooperation, cities and towns can foster relationships with communities that share histories, affinities, or aspirations. These connections—often expressed through exchanges in culture, social initiatives, or economic cooperation—create opportunities for mutual enrichment. They allow territories and populations, separated by distance yet bound by experience, to recognize one another as partners in a shared narrative.

At the heart of every sister-city agreement lies a simple yet powerful premise: that the bonds between nations can begin with those between towns. Such partnerships first involve local communities, but they also resonate beyond the municipal scale, strengthening regional and national ties. By bringing people together through their cities and villages—the places where everyday life unfolds—we cultivate not only cooperation but also the intimacy of familiarity and affection.

It was within this spirit that Ponta Delgada hosted the Sister Cities Summit from June 25 to 27, 2025. The gathering marked the first summit dedicated to Portuguese-American sister-city partnerships and was jointly organized by the FLAD – Luso-American Development Foundation, as part of its 40th-anniversary celebrations, and the Government of the Azores through the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities. The event took place under the High Patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic.

Set in the middle of the North Atlantic—almost equidistant between Europe and North America—the Azores provided a fitting stage for the encounter. Here, in a region shaped by centuries of migration and maritime exchange, representatives from Portuguese and American sister cities gathered to reflect on existing partnerships and explore new avenues for collaboration. The summit was both a celebration of the relationships already forged and an invitation to deepen them.

In the course of the initiative, 57 sister-city partnerships were identified between municipalities in Portugal and the United States. Of these, 37 involve municipalities in the Azores, a remarkable number for an archipelago whose cultural reach has long extended far beyond its shores.

The oldest of these partnerships—indeed the oldest in the Azores and in Portugal itself—is the sister-city relationship between Angra do Heroísmo, on Terceira Island, and Tulare, California, which this year celebrates its 60th anniversary. The most recent partnership links Vila Franca do Campo, on São Miguel Island, with East Providence, Rhode Island, formalized on June 25 during the Sister Cities Summit itself.

Seen from a broader historical perspective, the map of these transatlantic partnerships mirrors the very routes of Azorean emigration to the United States. Municipalities on São Miguel Island tend to be more closely connected with cities along the American East Coast, where generations of Azorean migrants established communities in places such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island. By contrast, municipalities on Terceira and the other islands of the central group often maintain closer ties with communities in California, reflecting the migration patterns that shaped the Portuguese-American presence there.

One example illustrates this phenomenon particularly well: the city of Fall River, Massachusetts, whose deep Azorean roots are reflected in its sister-city relationships with all six municipalities of São Miguel Island.

Today, the United States accounts for 35 percent of all municipal sister-city partnerships involving the Autonomous Region of the Azores. Altogether, the 19 Azorean municipalities have established 104 sister-city agreements with communities in 13 different countries. These include partnerships with municipalities in the United States (38), Brazil (16), Cape Verde (12), Canada (4), Spain (2), Bulgaria (1), China (1), Colombia (1), Italy (1), Japan (1), São Tomé and Príncipe (1), and Uruguay (1). Within Portugal itself, Azorean municipalities maintain partnerships with nine other municipalities in the Azores, six in Madeira, and ten on mainland Portugal.

Among the Azorean municipalities, Angra do Heroísmo leads with 16 sister-city agreements, followed by Ribeira Grande with 11, and Lagoa with 10.

Angra do Heroísmo, the historic city on Terceira Island and a UNESCO World Heritage site, maintains sister-city relationships with Alenquer, Évora, and Funchal in Portugal; Cartagena de Indias in Colombia; Florianópolis, Gramado, São Salvador, and São Vicente in Brazil; Porto Novo and Ribeira Grande in Cape Verde; Jining in China; and the American cities of Gilroy, Gustine, Taunton, and Tulare.

The city of Ribeira Grande, on the northern coast of São Miguel Island, is twinned with Brampton and Laval in Canada; East Providence, Fall River, and Somerville in the United States; Lagos in Portugal; Porto Alegre and Viana in Brazil; Ribeira Grande and Santo Antão in Cape Verde; and Uji in Japan.

Meanwhile, the city of Lagoa, on the southern coast of São Miguel, maintains partnerships with Bristol, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Fall River, New Bedford, Rehoboth, and Taunton in the United States; Saint-Thérèse in Canada; Santa Cruz in Cape Verde; and Lagoa, in mainland Portugal.

Yet the culture of sister-city partnerships extends across the entire archipelago. Ponta Delgada and Povoação each maintain nine partnerships; Praia da Vitória, seven; Horta, Lajes do Pico, and Velas, five each; Vila Franca do Campo, five; Nordeste and Vila do Porto, four each; Madalena and São Roque, three; Lajes das Flores and Santa Cruz da Graciosa, two; and finally Corvo and Santa Cruz das Flores, one each.

Taken together, these partnerships form a living map of the Azorean diaspora—a network of civic relationships that echo the journeys of generations who crossed the Atlantic in search of new lives while carrying their island heritage with them. Through these municipal bonds, the diaspora continues to shape the story of the Azores, reminding us that the Atlantic, rather than separating continents, has long served as a bridge between them.

(To be continued )

José Andrade is the Regional Director for the Azorean Communities in the Secretariat of Parliamentary Relations and Diaspora of the Regional Government of the Azores.

Translated by Diniz Borges